All or Nothing
by dragonrain618
Summary: "Dont 'come on El' me. What you're asking me to do is be up in space...with Johnny. You owe me for this. Big time." When Elena Grimm agreed to go to space, she hadn't counted on coming back with new unusual abilities. Johnny Storm/OC
1. Presentations and Unwanted News

**Johnny Storm *cue dreamy sigh* lol! I hope you guys enjoy this story! There is definitely going to be a sequel after this is over (which will deal with the second movie and will be called Now or Never,) but its up to you guys whether there will be one final story after that or not :D So please review this story and tell me your thoughts and everything! Without further ado, the first chapter of All or Nothing!**

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><p><strong>All or Nothing<strong>

Chapter One

The red haired woman stared up at the humongous statue of the man they had come to see. "What the hell?" She questioned out loud. Yeah, Elena knew Victor Von Doom was, in a sense, narcissistic but still! To build a humongous statue of yourself? That went towards the category of wacko.

Beside her, the bald man grunted as he noticed the statue as well. "You have got to be kidding me." Elena heard her brother, Ben, mutter under his breath.

"Always told you he was a narcissistic psycho." Elena remarked with a smirk on her face before glancing at Reed who was staring at the statue as well with slightly widened eyes.

"High open space, exposed structural elements. Obviously aimed at first time-visitors to create feelings of… smallness, inadequacy." Reed Richards murmured and Elena couldn't help but notice that her friend seemed slightly nervous.

She and Ben exchanged a look before he looked at Reed and said reassuringly, "Good thing it ain't workin'." Ben faced Reed full on, his arms crossed. "Reed, what are we doing here? This guy's fast-food, strip-mall science…"

"Yeah, I agree with Benny Boo here." Elena stated, boredom etched onto her face.

Ben Grimm sent his younger sister a scowl at the nickname she refused to stop using. The redhead smirked at him before looking at Reed. "Seriously though. We don't need Victor Von Idiot's help."

Reed sighed before looking at the two. "This wasn't our first stop, in case you two forgot NASA." Elena rolled her eyes at the mention of NASA who had basically laughed their asses off at Reed's idea. _Stupid arrogant assholes, _the teacher thought annoyed.

"Besides, Victor's not _that _bad." Reed defended, looking at Elena while saying this. "He's just a little…"

"Narcissistic? Conceited? Arrogant?" Elena suggested helpfully.

Ben snorted. "Took the words right outta my mouth El."

Reed sent the two a disapproving look. "I was going to say larger than life."

Elena rolled her eyes before following the two into the building reluctantly, silently wishing that they could ask for ANYONE'S help besides Victor's. The three walked right past the giant statues and through the front doors into the atrium of Von Doom Industries. Inside, there were people everywhere.

As they walked to the front desk, Reed stated, "He's financed some of the biggest breakthroughs of this century."

"Really?" Elena asked in an uncaring tone, really _really _wishing they weren't here. Victor creeped her out. Big time.

"You'd never know it." Ben remarked sarcastically.

Elena stopped walking as did the other two when they reached the desk. The receptionist looked less than thrilled to be there making Elena wonder just how horrible the woman's job would have to be…unless she was just lazy. That would make sense.

Reed smiled at the woman politely. "Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Elena Grimm to see-"

"Executive elevator, top floor." The receptionist cut him off in a dull tone as she handed each of them a pass.

_Isn't she a ray of sunshine,_ Elena thought dryly. At Reed's confused look from the receptionist's reaction, the red head shrugged as if to say 'who cared.'

"What's the price of a smile around here?" Ben inquired gruffly as we walked away towards the elevator.

"I don't know. Got a couple million dollars?" Elena smirked.

Ben chuckled quietly while Reed simply rolled his eyes, too nervous to care. Elena sighed as she saw Reed's hand shaking slightly as he pressed the button for the top floor once they were all in the elevator. "Relax." She told him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Silently, she hoped for Reed's sake, despite the fact that she hated Victor, that the presentation would convince Victor to help them in this endeavor. Reed had honestly worked hard on this and he deserved the chance to prove himself. At least, that's the way Elena saw it anyway.

Elena stood next to Ben in the large, dark office and watched as Reed showed his presentation to Victor. Ben yawned as he watched as well with his arms crossed.

"My research suggests," Reed spoke, "that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm borne on solar winds might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life." He motioned towards the holograms that were being shown.

Elena glanced at where Victor was sitting but couldn't really make out whether or not he liked Reed or not do to the fact that he was off in the shadows.

_Please, just support Reed on this! _She thought desperately. Reed really needed this.

"In six weeks another cloud with the same elemental profile will pass Earth's orbit. A study in space could advance our knowledge about the structure of the human genome, and help cure countless diseases, extend human life-" Reed continued speaking, but was cut off by Victor clearing his throat.

Undeterred, Reed didn't stop speaking though Elena noticed he was more nervous now than he had been a second ago. However, he hid it as he tried to get his point across. "Give kids the chance to be stronger, healthier, less prone to-"

"Turn it off. Please." Victor stated.

"What do you mean!" Elena hissed through gritted teeth. "He's not done yet!" Ben sighed, wondering if he was going to have to keep Elena from attacking Victor.

"Yes, I haven't fully explained my-"

"Yes, you have." Victor interrupted again. "Imagination. Creativity. Passion. Those were always your trademarks."

Suddenly, lights flickered on in the room and Victor was visible, looking commanding from his seat behind his desk.

Elena blinked as her eyes became accustomed to the brightness before focusing on Victor, wondering what his decision would be. She wondered how much longer this was going to be. She had promised Jess she would meet her for a celebratory dinner afterwards.

Her best friend's reasoning for a celebration had been this: if Victor goes along with the proposal, then yay, they succeeded. However if he didn't, at least Elena wouldn't have to spend any time in the company of Victor Von Doom.

Victor set a magazine down that had a picture of Reed on the cover of it along with the words: _**RICHARDS BANKRUPT, ANNOUNCES GRANT CUTBACKS**__. _Elena winced.

"But dreams don't pay the bills do they?" Victor mocked as a condescending smile appeared on his face. "Same old Reed, the hopeless optimist. Still reaching for the stars, with the world on your back."

Jade green eyes narrowed dangerously at Victor as Elena clenched and unclenched her fists, doing her best not to blow up on Victor knowing that if she did, it could hurt Reed's chances. She desperately wanted to punch Victor but she knew that it wouldn't do her any good.

Reed ignored the insult directed towards him and instead said, "You remember in school we talked about working together. That's what I was about to explain."

He pressed a button on the remote in his hand and another hologram appeared. This one was of a space shuttle slowly approaching an orbiting space station. Both of which bore the Von Doom Industries logo. "This storm is deadly, but the shields on your station's control room are designed to protect any occupants inside."

An intrigued smile crossed Victor's face as he looked at Reed, amusement visible in his eyes. "So it's not my money you want. It's my toys." He smirked. "Tell me, if NASA doesn't trust you, then why should I?"

"Because you know Reed. You know he can do this." Elena spoke up.

The smirk grew. "Ahh, Miss Grimm. It is lovely to see you again."

Elena simply arched an eyebrow at the man, giving him a look that said she didn't think of it as lovely at all.

Turning his attention back to Reed, Victor spoke. "That's my job. To stay a step ahead. To know what other men don't."

Ben walked over to Reed and turned his back to Victor. "I can't take this." He told Reed quietly and Elena bit her lip, wondering what they were going to do now since it appeared as if Victor was just toying with them and he wasn't going to back Reed.

In a low, quiet voice, Reed responded as he turned his head to Ben, "Ben. This is just business." Elena grimaced but she agreed with him, despite her hatred of Von Doom.

"He's right, Ben." A voice remarked near the door. Elena looked up and a smile crossed her face when she saw the blonde female who was standing there. "It's just business."

"I think you all know my Director of Genetic Research, Susan Storm." Victor introduced, though no introduction was needed.

"One more thing he's got." Ben remarked quietly to Reed before greeting Sue with a smile. "Heya Susie."

"Hey Sue." Elena grinned, casting a quick glance at Reed who was simply staring at Sue with wide eyes.

Sue gave Elena a quick hug as well as Ben. "It's been too long since I've seen you two." She stated smiling before the smile disappeared into a polite, blank expression as she turned to Reed and stiffly shook his hand.

Elena rolled her eyes, noticing the way Victor was watching Reed and Sue carefully. She honestly had no clue why Sue would date a scumbag like Victor. The dark red haired woman gave Reed a sympathetic look, knowing that he still cared about Susan though it was Reed's own fault that he lost her to Victor. He, like always, had been too caught up with his experiments.

Elena glanced at her brother and, from the look on his face, she gathered that he was thinking the same thing.

"How have you been?" Reed inquired.

"Never better." She replied. The two continued to stare at each other.

"Is it just me," Elena whispered quietly to Ben, "or does it look like Sue still likes him?"

Ben looked at his sister as if she was crazy. "Its just you. How much do you wanna bet she ends up killing him before we leave?"

Elena let out an annoyed breath. "You don't have a single romantic bone in your body, do you?" Ben simply rolled his eyes, looking amused.

Victor placed a hand on Sue's shoulder. "This isn't going to be a problem, is it?" He questioned, looking at Reed with fake concern, cold amusement glittering in his eyes.

"Not at all."

"Ancient history." Sue replied in a tone that left no room for argument.

A smile graced the man's face. "Good. Then you're just in time to hear the great Reed Richards ask me for help." He turned to Reed and said, "You know, you made a lot of folks at MIT feel like a junior high science fair. So you'll excuse me if I savor the moment."

_Jerk, _was Elena's only thought as she watched the exchange with her arms crossed. Ben's eyes narrowed.

Again, Reed ignored the insult. "You back this mission, and I'll sign over a fair percentage of any applications or-"

"The number's seventy-five." Victor stated in a tone that seemed as if he was daring Reed to argue. "And it's applications and patents."

"What about his first born?" Ben scoffed annoyed.

"Yeah. No way in hell will that happen." Elena remarked annoyed, jade green eyes dark with annoyance. "There is no way Reed would agree to-"

Reed cut her off in a quiet tone as he looked at his two friends. "Ben, Elena, the money's not important. We could save lives."

Elena stared at Reed, eyes studying his face. "I hope you know what you're getting into, Brainiac." Silently, she was thinking that Reed was an idiot if he agreed to this deal, however she knew that the whole point of this experiment wasn't for fame or money. Reed's whole basis for this was to save the lives of people all around the world. It was because of that reason that she wouldn't argue even if he did want to make a deal with the devil a.k.a. Victor Von Asshole.

"Trust me." Reed gave her a small smile before turning to Victor, who began to speak again.

"Twenty-five percent of a billion is enough to keep the lights on, isn't it? Maybe even pay off your forth mortgage on the Baxter Building." Victor smirked and Elena wondered silently how the hell he knew all of this. "Deal?" He questioned.

Reed looked at Ben. Ben shook his head no, not wanting Reed to agree to Victor's outrageous terms. Sighing, Reed looked at the fiery redhead who looked as if she wanted to kill Victor. Arching an eyebrow at her inquisitively, he waited to see what she thought on the matter.

Elena let out a heavy sigh. "Do whatever you want Reed. Its not like we can change your mind anyway."

Very slowly, Reed gave Victor a nod. "Fine."

"Well then," Victor held his hand out, "to our future together." Reed accepted the handshake with a determined look now on his face. "Funny how things turn out, isn't it?" The man smirked.

"Hilarious." Reed replied with little emotion in his voice.

"I'll say." Ben remarked annoyed.

As the three reentered the elevator as soon as the door opened, a frown was on Ben's face as if he was thinking about something.

"What?" Green eyes looked at him curiously.

"He knew about NASA." Ben said with a suspicious look growing on his face. "What if he made the call to shut us down?"

His sister blinked, not even having thought of that possibility. Knowing Victor, she wouldn't put it past him to actually try something like that. "If I thought it would do any good, I would go kick his ass right here and now."

Reed gave his friend a look. "If you got put in jail for assaulting Victor, who would post your bail?" It was obvious neither he nor Ben would be able to afford whatever hefty price the bail would probably be.

Elena shrugged. "I'd blackmail Jess. She owes me anyway."

Reed rolled his eyes, as did Ben, before looking at his other friend. "Ben, think about all the people we can help if this works-"

"Maybe you should think about yourself for once." Ben interrupted. "You always let this guy push you around-"

"We got what we wanted. That's enough." He told Ben calmly. He looked to Elena to see if she would back him up on this.

She sighed. "It's like I tell my students, it's the end results that matter. Even though I hate Victor's guts, he's a necessary evil." _One that I might end up killing by the end of this trip_, Elena thought grimly.

"I know, I know. I'm just worried about what he wants…speaking of which…" Ben trailed off, his eyes landing on something.

Following his gaze, Elena noticed Sue walking into the elevator just before the doors shut. Wondering what was going on, the female took a step back to allow Reed and Sue some room.

She pulled her cell phone out and noticed that she had four new text messages and one new voicemail, all from Jess. She groaned.

"You sure about this, Reed?" Sue questioned him with her arms crossed as she looked at him.

Reed nodded, looking down and away from the blonde as he attempted not to make eye contact with her. "Those solar winds are flaring, but I factored them into my coordinates so-"

"I was talking about us. Working together." Sue's eyes were intent upon Reed.

Elena didn't even notice the tension that hung between the two because she was too busy looking annoyed as she read her friend's texts that ranged from at first asking where she was to the last which stated that if she didn't respond soon then Jess would assume aliens had kidnapped her and she would call the National Guard.

The redhead groaned. Why couldn't she have any normal friends? And how the hell could the National Guard help if someone _was_ taken by aliens? She sighed before texting her friend back saying she was indeed alive and that she would see her at the café in an hour.

Nervous but doing his best to hide it, Reed answered saying, "Well based on our history...you can handle the biogenetics, and I'll focus on the molecular physics. Or, um, maybe I should take the biotech and you work the microscopes, since you have some background in electropho-"

Annoyance flickered across Sue's face as she said dryly, "Right. That's _exactly _what I meant." She shook her head annoyed.

Reed looked from Sue to Ben with a look on his face that asked what he did wrong.

Ben smiled and patted Reed on the shoulder. "Way to not over think it."

"Reed, you should know that those solar winds have been picking up speed lately," Sue said with a hint of caution in her tone after a moment of awkward silence.

"I factored them into my coordinates."

"Right. Of course you did. In theory. It's a little different once you're out there."

"I can assure you-"

Turning to Sue, Ben asked in an effort to prevent any arguments from springing up between the two, "So when do we leave?"

Putting away her cell phone, Elena looked at Susan expectantly. She was going to have to come up with the lesson plans for whoever would be taking over her class for the next couple weeks, so she needed to know how much time she had to procrastinate before doing so.

"I'll be scheduling the launch," Sue told them, smiling at Ben and Elena. "So call me in the morning to talk about resources and crew." She turned to Reed and held out a business card, no trace of the smile that had been on her face moments before.

Reed looked at it before turning his eyes to the blonde's face. "I think I remember the number." He gave her a hesitant smile.

"Its been changed." The woman replied simply.

Ben grimaced and Reed looked down. Elena sent Reed a sympathetic look before taking the offered card from Sue and sticking it in her back pocket.

Ben cleared his throat and arched an eyebrow at Reed. Nodding, Reed stepped over to Ben and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder before saying to Sue, "As far as crew, I was hoping Ben could pilot the mission."

"Well," Sue began as she looked at Ben sympathetically, "We already have a pilot on our payroll, but you're welcome to ride shotgun, Ben. You remember my brother Johnny…"

Elena froze. _You have GOT to be KIDDING me!_

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><p><strong>Please review! Special thanks to my friend InnocentKitsune444 who listens to me when i go on and on about random story ideas...or at least, pretends to listen while ignoring me lol xD And also thank you to my friend Rogue who helps me come up with the randomnest ideas to say and to make me laugh my ass of lol xD<strong>


	2. Bonds of Friendship

**Hi guys! Thank you to all of those who reviewed and/or added the story to their alerts and favorites! I really appreciate it! Also, I forgot to mention something to you guys. There will be mentions of mutants, the X-MEN, and stuff like that because this IS the Marvel universe. I'm just letting you guys know ahead of time just in case you get confused or something.**

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><p>Chapter Two<p>

The redhead arched an eyebrow. "Beg."

"Come on, El." Her older brother groaned, getting irritated. Reed simply watched the two from his seat in the taxi with a slightly amused expression on his face.

Elena crossed her arms. "Don't 'come on, El' me. What you're asking me to do is be up in space…with _Johnny_. You owe me for this. Big time." It wasn't that she hated Johnny, she barely knew him honestly. However, the few times that she had seen him, he had always managed to piss her off within five minutes of talking to him. The guy was a total playboy and liked anything that had boob.

So, obviously, Elena would have preferred that Johnny couldn't come.

"It's not like you even need to talk to him. Ignore him. Heck, that's what I plan on doing." Ben snorted.

Elena arched an eyebrow. "I have a feeling you'll agree with me once you see him again."

"Come on guys, Johnny's not _that_ bad." Reed defended as the taxi came to a stop.

"I really have to go, don't I?" Elena questioned with growing dread.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun." Reed said reassuringly.

The red-haired female arched an eyebrow at her friend. "Whatever you say, Brainiac." She remarked as she got out of the vehicle. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"

"Actually, I have to talk with Victor about supplies for the experiment so I won't see you for a few days." Reed stated, giving his friend an apologetic smile.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Have fun with that. See ya guys."

"Bye El." Ben gave his sister a smile before turning to Reed and going on a rant about the messed up deal that Reed had accepted.

Shaking her head at them, Elena shut the taxi door. After the taxi drove off, she turned to face the café and literally groaned when she saw that Jess had grabbed them a window booth. Currently, the brunette was waving at her while grinning maniacally through the window.

While laughing quietly at her friend, Elena walked in and took the seat across from Jess. She arched an eyebrow at the obvious good mood the woman was in. "What's up?"

Jess smirked. "As of today, I am officially an art teacher."

Elena arched an eyebrow. "Are they insane? They're really trusting _you_ to teach kids?"

"I know, right? My reaction exactly." Jessica Allen was definitely not someone who should be _influencing_ young minds…unless it was to show them what NOT to do.

When the waitress walked over to ask if Elena wanted anything, the redhead ordered her usual French Vanilla Cappuccino before turning back to respond to Jess as the waitress left, and said, "Well, congrats I guess."

"Thanks." Jess replied, smiling at her friend as some of her hyperness started to disappear. "Psycho found out and told me right before I left."

An amused look appeared on the redhead's face. "Have you actually called him that to his face yet?"

The dark brown haired woman nodded as if it wasn't that big of a deal. "Yeah, so?"

Elena laughed as she shook her head. Grinning, she said, "You know he's going to kill you one of these days, right?"

Jess tilted her head with an eyebrow raised. "What? It's my pet name for him."

"A pet name that's going to get you killed." Elena stated, smirking at the brunette.

Jess shrugged. "I'm too cute for him to kill."

"In what universe do you live in?" Elena questioned, an eyebrow raised in amusement.

Grey-blue eyes looked at her. "One where a completely normal, awesome person can have a completely evil father." Elena wanted to disagree with that statement but knew that she couldn't since it was all true, though the 'awesome' part was a definite exaggeration.

Elena sighed and gave Jess a sympathetic look, knowing there wasn't really anything she could say on that topic. During this time, the waitress came back with Elena's cappuccino to which Elena thanked her for right before the waitress walked off to assist another customer.

To get away from the topic of Jess's dysfunctional family, Elena went back to the whole pet name thing. "Psycho definitely isn't a pet name. Also, don't you have to have some kind of relationship with the guy to give him a pet name anyway?"

Jess gave Elena a grateful smile at the topic change before saying, "It is if I want it to be. Besides, we do have a relationship." At Elena's arched eyebrow, the woman crossed her arms and smiled playfully at her friend, though Elena noticed from the look in Jess's eyes that her mind was still back on what had been previously said about her father. "It's a love-hate one."

"If you say so." Elena remarked, knowing that there was indeed no relationship going on at all.

"Anyway, so how did the presentation go?" Jess asked seriously.

The redhead let out a long sigh.

"That bad, huh?" The woman remarked sympathetically, blue-grey eyes examining her best friend's face.

Elena shook her head. "No, it went great. Reed did great. It's just…I don't know."

"Hmm." Jess's face became blank as she searched her friend's eyes for any source of what was wrong. "Does it have anything to do with my dumbass brother?" Elena gave her a look. "I'll take that as a 'no' then. Seriously though, what's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted?" An exasperated look appeared on the woman's face.

Elena took a sip out of her cappuccino and didn't respond for several seconds as she looked away with a frown. "Yeah I just…I don't know." She shook her head before giving Jess a small smile. "I'm just being stupid. It's probably just the nerves getting to me anyway."

Jess's grey-blue eyes didn't appear very convinced but the woman sighed. "If you say so."

There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as the minds of the two women drifted off in thought. Elena was thinking about the upcoming experiment in space whereas Jess was thinking about her new teaching position as they both continued sipping on their drinks.

Finally, Elena asked, "Is everything okay besides the usual messed up family?"

The brunette slowly nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. Despite the fact the guy I like is so dense he doesn't even notice."

"Yeah, well, men are usually idiots so don't let that discourage you." Elena smiled wryly at her friend.

"Thanks, Elly." Jess remarked and smirked knowing exactly what her friend was going to say next.

"Don't. Call. Me. That!" The redhead growled annoyed, leaning back in the booth with her arms crossed.

Jess laughed at her friend before groaning as she heard her cell phone ring. "And that would be Psycho." She rolled her eyes before answering. "Helloooooo. What do you want?" A frown crossed her face as she listened. "Wait, what?" More talking on the other line. Jess groaned. "Fine, Super Jess is coming to save the day….Shut up." She rolled her eyes as she hung up her phone, wondering what else the students had done to put Mr. Grouchy in a bad mood.

"What was that about?" Elena questioned with an eyebrow raised at her friend who just shook her head.

"You don't even want to know. Those kids worry me sometimes with the stupid ideas they come up with."

"They get it from you." The redhead smirked, causing the brunette to glare at her.

"You know what? I hate both you and Psycho right now." Jess grabbed her bag as she stood up. "Anyway, I've got to go and help the idiots out."

"Alright." Elena grabbed her cappuccino and finished it before standing up. "I better get going too then. I have to start working on the lesson plans for whatever sub the school hires to cover me while I'm gone."

"Meaning procrastinate until the last possible minute?" Jess guessed, a smirk on her face.

"You know me too well." Elena laughed.

**Two Weeks Later**

"Miss Grimm?" The voice of a one of her teenaged students asked, causing Elena to look up from the papers that she was grading.

"What do you need?" She asked, smiling at Renee Jones, one of her brighter students.

"What was the research paper supposed to be over again?" She questioned, worry visible in her eyes.

Elena set her pen down. "Basically, you have to compare the differences in DNA between regular humans and humans who have gained a genetic difference within their DNA."

"Mutants, you mean?" Renee asked slowly, to which Elena nodded.

"Yeah. However," This time Elena stood up to speak to the whole class that way they all heard her, "I will not accept any papers that discriminate or show any bias against mutants. Understand?" She questioned sharply, to which all of her students nodded quickly, not wanting to incur the wrath of their Chemistry teacher.

"Good." The redhead sat back down in her seat and smiled at Renee. "I know I don't have to worry about you doing anything like that, I just wanted to make sure the others understood."

"Thank you Miss Grimm. When are the papers due?"

Elena frowned and leaned back in her chair in thought. "Hmm, I'll be gone all of this week so…how about Friday of next week?"

Renee went to say something, but was interrupted by the dismissal bell that signaled that school was over for the day.

The students all filed out as quickly as possible, glad that the school day was over. Some were even cheering, which made Elena laugh and roll her eyes as she straightened up some of the papers that were on her desk.

"Knock, knock." came a voice from the classroom door, causing Elena to turn around and look at her brother who was walking in. "Are you ready to go or not? Reed's waiting on us." Ben stated annoyed.

"One second Benny Boo." Elena remarked as she grabbed her purse before turning to Ben. "Okay, lets go."

Today was the day. Jess had called and texted her a million times telling her not to get abducted by aliens which, just like everything Jess said, made no sense whatsoever but Elena just went with it and promised that if she was abducted, she'd tell them where to find Jess as well.

"Ready?" Ben questioned his little sister as they walked out of the school building.

"Yeah." Elena replied smiling.

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><p><strong>Sorry there wasn't any appearances of Johnny in this chapter. I wanted to show Elena's friendship with Jess to you guys because even though Jess isnt a MAIN character, she will be mentioned quite a bit throughout the stories and will show up a lot just because her and Elena are really good friends. <strong>

**I promise that the next chapter will definitely have Johnny in it :)**

**Please review!**

**Oh, and if anyone can guess who Jess's "evil" father is, I'll message you a special short little oneshot of Johnny and Elena which takes place right after the end of the first movie. Hint, Jess's last name is what her mother's last name was so it has NOTHING to do with who her father is.**


	3. Everything Begins to Change

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I didnt update sooner but I was busy with updating my Vampire Diaries story! Considering I'm focusing on three stories right now, I'm guessing that I'll probably be updating All or Nothing about once a week, maybe twice depending on if I have any big inspiration to write! **

**Also, on my profile I have links to what I picture Elena looking like! I also have a link to a pic of Jess as well! :D So please check them out!**

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><p>Chapter Three<p>

"Can't do it. I cannot do it." Ben stated, looking through binoculars down at Johnny who was currently driving a motorcycle while making out with a woman who was driving a red Corvette.

Elena looked at Ben amused, a wry smile on her face as she said, "Told you so."

"External S.R.B.'s, orbital system engines," Reed looked over at his friend. "It's just like the shuttles you flew in-"

"No. I cannot take orders from the underwear model." Ben crossed his arms, having no thought of backing down. Not this time. "That wing nut washed out of NASA for sneaking two Victoria's Secret wannabes into a flight simulator," Ben said pointing out at motorcycle as it raced to the entrance of the compound.

Elena arched an eyebrow, remembering back when Ben had told her about it when it had first happened. Most of her reasons for disliking Johnny Storm came from the stories her older brother told her. In retrospect, she had a feeling he had purposely told her all of those things in order to make sure she didn't fall for the playboy.

Not that she would've anyway.

"Youthful high spirits." Reed tried but it was obvious even he didn't even fully believe that.

Elena gave Reed a dubious look as Ben stressed, "They crashed it into a wall. _A flight simulator_!"

Elena snickered, causing her brother to look at her. "I wouldn't be laughing if I was you, El. After all, _who_ was it who nearly burnt an apartment down because she forgot to put water in the kettle before turning the burners on?"

"Hey!" The redhead blinked in surprise. "That happened one time!" At Ben's look, she crossed her arms. "Okay, maybe twice." Ben arched an eyebrow, causing Elena to throw her hands up in the air annoyed. "Okay! We've established the fact that I forget things easily so lets just get onto another subject already."

Reed shook his head in amusement at Elena before looking at Ben. "Come on, when have I ever asked you to do something you absolutely said you could not do?"

"Five times!" Ben said almost instantly, holding up his hand to show the number before walking past Reed annoyed.

"I had it at four!" Reed shouted back.

"Well, this makes five!" Ben yelled back, which caused a smile to appear on Reed's face.

Reed looked at Elena, the smile still on his face. "What about you?"

Elena arched an eyebrow. "What about me? I said I'd come so I'm coming. However," She crossed her arms at him and narrowed her light green eyes at him. "If I die because Johnny somehow manages to crash the space shuttle, be prepared to be tortured by me in the afterlife."

Reed chuckles. "Thanks Elena."

Elena shook her head. "No, don't thank me. You _owe_ me, my friend. Don't forget that." With that said, Elena walked off into the direction her brother went. Reed rolled his eyes before following after.

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><p>"Um, Sue?" The redhead questioned, not taking her eyes off of the <em>thing<em> that was on the bench in front of her.

"What?" Sue inquired, turning towards the teacher who was looking in horror at something.

"What is _that_?" Elena asked slowly, having a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer.

Sue chuckled quietly as she noticed what Elena was staring at. "Victor designed it."

"Always knew he was a pervert." Elena muttered, picking up the skin tight suit she was going to have to wear.

The blonde shook her head. "No, he isn't, El."

Elena turned and looked at her friend with her arms crossed. "Sue, the guy's creepy as hell."

"People could say the same about Reed." Sue pointed out.

"Nope." Elena shook her head. "Reed's creepy in the adorable, nerdy way whereas Victor is creepy in the…creepy way."

Now it was Sue's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Creepy in the creepy way? You do know that doesn't make any real sense whatsoever, right?"

"And you _do_ know who your talking to, right?" Elena retorted, causing Sue to roll her eyes.

"Just put on the suit, El…and I'd hurry if I were you before my brother gets here."

Those were the magic words which sent Elena scurrying to hurry and get the skin tight suit on before Johnny could be, well, Johnny and decide to walk into the women's changing room.

"See?" Sue remarked as Elena glared in distaste at the mirror. "You look good."

"Yeah, but it's _tight_." The redhead stated, her obvious dislike clear in her tone. She tilted her head, biting her lip. "Though it _is_ comfortable, I have to admit." A smirk suddenly crossed the woman's face. A smirk that Sue had seen countless times and had taught her to be wary of whatever Elena was planning.

"What are you up to?" Sue asked warily, an amused look on her face.

Elena looked at her friend slyly. "Oh nothing. I'm just trying to figure out how many guys Ben would kill if I went into a night club wearing this."

Sue laughed. "Enough to possibly consider him a serial killer."

Elena walked out of the room with Sue following after her a minute later.

"… I can handle the ship. I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition. But I don't know if I should be flying or doing Swan Lake in these suits. Who the hell came up with these?" Ben remarked, looking annoyed.

"My thoughts exactly." His sister stated as she walked in with Sue. She heard someone let out a low whistle and she turned light green eyes onto the blonde man who had done so. Elena arched an eyebrow. "Hi Johnny."

Johnny grinned. "Why hello Elena. Looking good." He remarked, looking her up and down as he said this causing her to roll her eyes.

"Thanks." The redhead replied dryly, looking almost amused.

Ben shook his head annoyed as he crossed his arms. He looked at Sue. "Who designed these anyway? And why the hell does it have to be so tight?" He questioned, glaring at Johnny as he said this last part considering the blonde was still eying Elena.

"Victor did." Sue answered. "The synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your individual needs."

"See, now what that means is, it keeps the hot stuff hot and the cool stuff cool." Johnny explained.

"Gee, really? I'd never have guessed that." Elena remarked sarcastically, despite the fact she really _hadn't_ known that. Chemistry was as far as her knowledge of science went, which was a good thing considering that was what she taught.

"Wow. Fantastic." Reed breathed, staring at Sue with wide eyes.

Elena raised an eyebrow. _Is Reed actually checking her out?_ She wondered in amazement as Sue blushed. However, Reed's next words completely destroyed that hope.

"Material made from self-regulating unstable molecules. I've been working on a formula for this." Reed said in awe, still staring at the skintight outfit.

The redhead groaned. Reed was the dumbest smart person she knew.

There was an awkward moment of silence before Sue flashed Reed a fake smile. "Great minds think alike." She handed Ben the flight suit. "Here you go, Ben."

"Thanks Sweetie." Ben replied, nodding at her.

"Reed." Sue threw Reed's suit at him as she walked past.

"Idiot." Elena remarked, shaking her head at her friend who had a confused expression on his face.

"Was it something I said?" Reed asked the redhead.

"If you don't know what you did wrong, me telling you won't help any." was all that Elena said to him before looking at Ben. "So," She smirked. "Want to make a bet on how long it'll take before you kill Johnny?"

"Standing right here, just so you know." Johnny remarked with a grin on his face as he walked up to her. "How've you been El?"

"Fine. You?" Elena questioned, looking up into the handsome face of the blonde man.

Johnny smirked. "Amazing as always."

"Conceited much?" The redhead shook her head amused before walking off, not noticing Johnny's eyes looking her up and down as she walked away. Ben, however, did notice.

His eyebrow twitched. "A hour. Tops." He muttered in reply to Elena's bet. It would be a miracle if the blonde survived the whole trip.

* * *

><p>Elena walked into the Command Center with Sue. It was hard for her to believe that she was actually in space. Still…her excitement was only slightly diminished as the bad feeling she had mentioned to Jess returned.<p>

Shaking her head, she smiled. She didn't have time to worry over something that obviously didn't mean anything.

"If you behave, maybe next time daddy'll let you drive." Johnny grinned mockingly at Ben.

Ben, who was struggling to keep his calm, said, "Keep talking, and there won't be a _next time_."

"Benny Boo, don't commit any murders when witnesses are around." The redhead remarked, patting her brother on the back.

Johnny's grin grew as he looked at her. "I knew you liked me."

"However, if you take him to the other side of the space station where no one else is, there won't be any witnesses to worry about." Elena smirked at Johnny.

Ben chuckled. "I think I just might do that, El."

Sue rolled her eyes at her brother's look before looking out the giant window alongside Reed. "Long way from the projection booth at the Hayden Planetarium, isn't it?"

Reed looked at Sue, a small smile appeared on his face as he looked at her. "Yes. Yes it is."

Elena shook her head. _Why can't Brainiac just admit to himself that he's still in love with her?_ Glancing at Ben and Johnny, she noticed that they had seen the exchange as well.

Looking back at the others, Sue smiled. "We can monitor the cloud's approach and observe the tests from here."

Ben looked at Sue and asked bluntly, "Is it safe?"

Elena blinked, not having even thought of that. _It better be._ She thought annoyed, crossing her arms in an attempt to hide her sudden nervousness.

"The shields on the station should protect us." Reed said from beside him in an attempt to reassure him.

Ben stopped and looked at Reed. "Should?" He echoed, a frown on his face.

"You better mean _will_." Elena added with narrowed light green eyes.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you." Johnny winked at the redhead, which caused her to roll her eyes.

"On second thought, death would be much more preferable." Elena remarked with a completely serious face even though she didn't mean it at all.

"What's the matter, Ben? Getting paranoid in your old age?" Victor inquired as he approached them.

Ben took a threatening step forward, but Reed stopped him by saying, "Let's start loading those samples. Get your suit ready, Ben."

Ben nodded and moved to do just that, when Victor spoke again. "So I see you're still doing all the heavy lifting?"

Elena arched an eyebrow at Victor who had turned to Reed to say, "Maybe you should have stayed back in the lab. Field work never suited you."

"He does the talking. I do the walking. Got it?" Ben snapped at Victor, obviously having reached his limit.

"So take a walk, Ben." Victor remarked mockingly before straightening up. "Actually, if you'll all excuse me, I'd like to borrow Susan for a moment."

Sue, who had been looking at a monitor, looked up surprise. "Sure." The two left for another area of the space station and Reed went off to recheck his calculations.

Elena stood next to Ben as he got his helmet and boots on. She was in the middle of telling him something one of her students had done which she had found hilarious, when Johnny suddenly remarked, "Please tell me your guy's not trying to rekindle things with my sister again."

Elena arched an eyebrow at Johnny. "He isn't, but so what if he was? He's the better choice anyway." Johnny snorted in disbelief at that, clearly not agreeing with the redhead's opinion.

"'Course not. Strictly business." Ben stated.

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Yes, well, his eyes say differently, now don't they?" He commented as he typed something into a pad on Ben's wrist.

"Hey," Ben remarked as he grabbed Johnny's wrist, "two hearts got busted last time. Maybe she's not over it either."

"My point exactly." Elena smirked, crossing her arms. "In my opinion, I think the only reason she even started dating that creep Victor was to make Reed jealous." _Though she should've known Reed would be too dense to realize that's what she was trying to do, _the woman thought with a sigh.

"Wow Doctor Phil that's deep." Johnny said mockingly. "Let's think about that. You've got Victor, more money than God and stud of the year," Elena's nose scrunched up in disgust. There was no way in hell Victor would _ever_ be stud of the year, though that _was _just her opinion but still! "And you got Reed, the world's dumbest smart guy, worth less than a postage stamp. That's a real toss-up."

"I wouldn't expect your tiny little mind to understand." Elena stated as she rolled her eyes.

A few minutes later, they stood in front of the airlock, ready to go.

"Don't you wander off, boy." Johnny patted Ben on the shoulder, and stepped out of the air-lock.

Elena gave Ben a quick hug before the doors shut. Johnny gave a sarcastic salute to which Ben gave a thumbs up.

Elena rolled her eyes and smiled, excited for her brother. She waved at him as the metal airlock door opened and Ben went out. The bad feeling from before was back but she ignored it.

Johnny and the redhead both turned away from the door and went about watching the different monitors, particularly the ones that watched out for pulse acceleration as well as the amount of oxygen left in the suit Ben was wearing.

"So…how've you been?" Johnny questioned, looking over at the redhead who was in the middle of trying to figure out what the readings on one of the monitors meant. It felt as if she was reading ancient Greek considering she understood little of what the monitors said.

"Good." She responded after a moment as she wrote down what one of the monitors said before looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "What about you?"

Johnny nodded with a grin. "I've been pretty good. Sue told me you're a teacher now?"

Elena looked at him curiously, wondering where this conversation was going. "Yeah, for almost a year now. Eleventh grade Chemistry." She responded, her amusement showing on her face. "Why?"

Johnny sent her a wicked grin. "Chemistry teacher huh? That's hot."

Elena blinked and, before she could help it, she snickered at that. "Why would I even expect you to have a nice, normal conversation?" Johnny actually managed to look offended at that.

"Hey, I can have nice conver-" Johnny was cut off as Reed came running into the room.

Instantly alert, Elena quickly walked over to her friend while wondering what had caused the anxious look that was on his face. "What's up?"

She didn't get an answer. Instead Reed yelled at Ben over the radio, "Ben, you need to get inside NOW!"

"Reed, what the hell is wrong?" Elena demanded, worry filling her face as her green eyes peered at him intently.

"I ain't done arranging your flowers yet, Egghead." Ben's voice replied over the radio.

Elena's eyes followed Reed's horrified gaze. Her mouth fell open and she gaped at the sight of the cloud getting her closer. "I thought we had a few more hours before it would hit!"

"Ben, turn around!" Reed ordered.

After Ben looked behind him and saw the red cloud nearing, he began running for the station. "Guys, I'm not gonna make it!"

Elena felt panic begin to set in. She couldn't lose Ben. He was the only family she had left since their parents had both died when she had been younger. "Ben, you can do it! Get your ass in here!" She shouted, blinking back tears.

"Ben, you have to jump. It's the only way!" Johnny said, pounding on the glass with his fist.

Ben jumped slowly drifting towards the doors, but the storm was right behind him.

"You can do it! Come on Benny Boo!" Elena ordered, her eyes darting to the cloud that was rapidly gaining speed. It was mere inches away from her brother.

"Johnny, get ready to close the door." Reed told the blonde who nodded seriously.

Just as relief began to fill Elena as Ben entered the station, the cloud hit.

Elena didn't even have time to process what had happened before intense pain filled her. She felt as if her molecules were being pulled apart one by one. It was unbearable. She felt herself being thrown back against one of the walls, her head hitting it sharply.

Her vision became clouded by darkness…and the last thought that went through her head was that if she died, Jess would once again have no one to trust. She would once again fall back into her father's control.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I can kind of imagine Jess bringing Elena back to life just to kill her again lol! Once again, Jess's mysterious father is mentioned! Can any of you guess who it is? So far only <em>Dean Winchester's Baby Girl<em>**** has figured it out! Remember, if you guess correctly, I will message you a oneshot between Elena and Johnny! It takes place right after the end of the first story! **

**Also, Jess didnt use to be as happy and carefree as she is now...which is basically what Elena's afraid will happen once again if she died, since Elena is the only person Jess really trusts. **


	4. Waking Up

**A/N: Sorry guys about the late update. I've been meaning to work on this but...I just couldn't think of what to write next exactly. Please please please forgive me :D Also, a huge thank you to all of you who reviewed, or favorited the story, or put the story on your story alert! It really means alot to me!**

* * *

><p>Chapter Four<p>

Beep. _Hmm?_

Beep. _What's going on?_

Beep. _And what the _hell_ is that beeping noise?_

Green eyes slowly opened and Elena frowned as her eyes looked around the room that she was in. The beeping was coming from one of the monitors standing next to her.

_Where am I?_ She wondered as she forced herself to sit up, wincing at the stiffness of her muscles. Suddenly, the events from before flashed through her head. "Ben." She gasped, wondering if he was alright.

"Still asleep. So is Sue." A voice remarked from the doorway of the room. Reed walked in with a small smile on his face. "How do you feel?"

"Sore." Elena replied before asking, "How is everyone?"

"They're all fine." Reed assured her quickly, noticing the worry that was evident on his friend's face.

Elena fell back against the pillows on the bed with a sigh of relief, her face relaxing slightly. "What exactly happened?" She asked after a moment, looking back at Reed again.

A guilty look crossed Reed's face. "I honestly don't know. The cloud just…started accelerating. Ever since I woke up here, I've been going over the calculations multiple times and there was nothing indicating that something like that would have happened."

Elena sighed, knowing that Reed was probably blaming himself for what had happened. "Don't worry, Reed. If what you said before was the truth, then everyone is fine. No one was permanently maimed."

"Though I think some of the personnel here were afraid of being murdered after a certain short tempered woman was shouting at them since they wouldn't allow her entry into the building." Reed remarked dryly after a moment.

"Short tempered woman….Jess?" Elena blinked rapidly. "How the hell did she know we were here? And where _is_ here, by the way?"

"We're at one of Victor's private medical facilities. However, I honestly don't know the answer to the first question." The scientist responded, still slightly scared from the dark looks that Jess had sent him when he had checked to see what all of the commotion had been about. "She did leave though after the man she came with forcibly dragged her away before she murdered anyone. However, she did manage to leave you that first." He nodded to the nightstand next to the hospital bed.

On it was a mini bouquet of roses and a note that was lying next to her.

Elena arched an eyebrow in amusement as the roses. It was an inside joke between the two from back when Elena had surgery on her arm.

Jess had visited her at the hospital and Elena had joked about how you were supposed to bring the patient flowers. Jess had replied that the only time she would ever get Elena flowers would be for the redhead's funeral.

Elena assumed this meant that Jess wanted to kill her.

"How the hell did she get here though?" The woman whispered under her breath confused before sighing and shaking her head. It was best not to think about it too much because she would have only become more confused if she tried to figure it out. Jess was an enigma, most of the time.

Sometimes, the redhead wondered how the heck they had become friends anyway. To this day, it still puzzled her.

"I'm going to go check on Sue." Reed told Elena, who nodded.

"Alright. See you in a little bit." Elena replied and Reed left the room.

Sighing, Elena grabbed the note Jess had left her and opened it while silently wondering if she should be scared about whatever it said.

The note was short and simple, two things that Jess definitely wasn't. It said _"Get better soon! Love ya, Jess"_.

"Reading a love note from your boyfriend?" Elena heard someone remark, causing her to look up at Johnny who shut the door behind him.

"What are you doing in here?" She questioned with an eyebrow raised. "And why are you shutting the door?"

He flashed her a mischievous grin. "I'm hiding from the big guy."

"What did you do?" Elena asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at him amused.

"Me?" He looked at her innocently. "Nothing." However, his snicker at the end of "nothing" gave him away. "So…what does he look like?"

"Who? Ben?" Elena looked at him as if she thought he seriously needed his head examined.

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Not Benji. Your boyfriend."

Elena furrowed her eyebrows confused. "Boyfriend?" She echoed, wondering what the hell he was talking about. She hadn't had a boyfriend since…yeah, _he _was definitely not someone she wanted to think about otherwise she might commit a murder.

It was Johnny's turn to look at her as if she was stupid. "You know, the one who left you the flowers." He arched an eyebrow. "Jess, right?"

Elena blinked. "You saw the note?"

"Earlier when Reed dropped it off, yeah." Johnny replied.

A second later, Elena fully processed what Johnny had said before. _Jess? _Johnny obviously hadn't been around when Jess had caused the disturbance earlier. Especially if he thought Jess was a guy.

A smirk crossed Elena's lips as she decided to play along. If Johnny thought Jess was a guy and her boyfriend, then why should she correct him? It would give her and Ben something to laugh at for a while. She silently wondered what Jess would say once she told her that someone thought she was a guy. "What about him?"

"What does he look like? I bet he's butt ugly." Johnny remarked smugly, causing Elena to arch an eyebrow.

This was going to be fun, she could tell. "Definitely not."

"But, of course, he's incomparable to my devilish looks." Johnny grinned, winking at the redhead.

"Of course." Elena replied amused. "He would win hands down."

"Come skiing with me and I'll make you forget all about this Jess guy." Johnny flirted, winking at Elena which actually caused her cheeks to redden.

"No thanks." Elena stated, shaking her head exasperated with the man. There was absolutely no way possible to get him to stop flirting with her, even when he was under the delusion that she was dating someone else already.

"Come on." Johnny complained. "This place is boring, plus," His grin came back. "If you come with me, we'll be off where no one can see us."

"Sounds like the perfect invitation to getting murdered by a serial killer, a.k.a. you." Elena responded. "Now can you _please_ get out so I can change my clothes?"

"I can't watch?" Johnny stuck out his lower lip in an attempt at pouting. Unfortunately for him, the door to the room happened to open right at that time. Also, to add to his bad luck, was the fact that the person was Ben.

Elena's older brother looked at Johnny, his eyebrow twitching. "Are you serious, kid?"

_Busted._ The redhead thought amused, wondering if she was going to have to hide a dead body after all.

"Uh, hey big guy." Johnny laughed nervously. "What's up?"

"Last chance." Ben stated, glaring at him more out of annoyance than actual anger.

"Gotcha." Johnny smirked. "So Benji, did you know that your sister has a boyfriend?" Elena blinked alarmed, wondering where Johnny was going with this.

Ben looked at Elena with an eyebrow raised. "Damn it Elena, I thought you were smarter than agreeing to go out with the likes of him." He stated frustrated while pointing at Johnny.

"Wait, what?" Elena stared at her brother. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I should be the one saying that! I thought you hated the guy." Ben remarked, crossing his arms and looking at his sister disappointed.

"Standing right here. Just saying." Johnny remarked, grinning in amusement. He silently wondered why Ben had automatically assumed that he had been talking about himself.

"Ben!" Elena stated exasperated, not sure if she should be laughing or shouting at her brother for his obvious moment of stupidity. "I am _not_ dating Jonathan Storm and _never_ will, okay?"

"A little harsh, don't you think?" The blonde remarked, frowning. As before, he was ignored. Being ignored was really starting to annoy him. He crossed his arms childishly and turned his head away from them. "Fine. If you guys don't want to talk to me, I'll just leave." Still no response. "Seriously?"

"You're not?" Ben questioned surprised. "Oh, good." He smirked. "I knew I raised you to use your head."

"Once again, can hear everything you're saying. Just letting you know." Johnny remarked.

"Oh, I thought you left already." Elena said, looking at the blonde with a blank face. She did her best not to laugh at his expression.

"Since I'm clearly not wanted, I'm going to go skiing with that hot nurse instead." He smirked. "She clearly recognizes a good thing when she sees it."

"Then why would she agree to go with you then?" Elena smirked.

Johnny rolled his eyes and went toward the door. "See you guys later." He winked at Elena before walking out, shutting the door behind him.

Elena smiled slightly, shaking her head amused. There were times when Johnny was annoying, and then there were the times when he was just plain amusing. However, 'annoying' and 'amusing' often ended up blending together into downright 'irritating'. This time, however, was not the case.

"What's the guy's name?" Ben questioned once Johnny had left the room, taking a seat in the chair next to Elena's bed.

"Jess." The redhead stated dryly, silently taking satisfaction in the surprised look that appeared on her brother's face as he was rendered speechless.

Ben blinked several times as he stared at his younger sister. Finally, he managed to regain the ability to speak. "Jess as in that spitfire friend of yours? _Jessica_? _That_ Jess?"

Elena laughed. "That would be the one. Though I wouldn't call her Jessica to her face, she hates being called that."

"But its her name." He stated bluntly, arms crossed.

"And she hates it, hence 'Jess'." Elena rolled her eyes at her brother. Of course there was a reason that Jess hated being called by her full first name, but there was no way in hell Elena would tell anyone what it was.

Finally fully recovered from his surprise, Ben arched an eyebrow at her. "Why does Blondie think your dating Jess?"

"Because he's an idiot?" The green eyed woman guessed with a shrug, silently wondering the same thing. "Don't ruin it by telling him the truth, though. I want to see how long I can drag this out."

Ben shook his head. "Whatever, as long as you don't involve me in this I don't care."

Elena shrugged. "Fine with me, but make sure you refer to Jess as a guy otherwise game over."

Ben rolled his eyes at his sister. "Fine, now hurry up and get dressed. We have some matchmaking to do."

_Matchmaking?_ Elena's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

* * *

><p>Elena was glad to be back in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Looking out from the little patio space they were standing on that overlooked the small area, she had to admit that the area was beautiful.<p>

She glanced at Ben and Reed. Despite the fact she was usually against matchmaking, she had to admit that it would be great if Sue and Reed really did get back together. However, she didn't have much hope that it would actually happen. _I mean, this _is_ Reed we're talking about, after all. He's a great guy but…not exactly the best at admitting how he feels._ Hence the reason Sue had broken up with him originally.

Nonetheless however, Elena really did want the two back together.

"How long was I out?" Ben inquired looking at his friend, who looked over at him.

Reed sighed. "Three days. I was worried about you." He looked at Elena. "Both of you."

"Maybe that's why some of your hair has gone grey." The youngest of the three replied, her eyebrow raised in a teasing manner and her eyes glinting with mischief.

"Maybe." Reed stated, humoring Elena before looking back at Ben. "How are you feeling?"

"Solid." Ben replied, still grinning slightly from what Elena had said. The grin faded away to a serious look as he studied Reed. "How about you?"

Reed shook his head and turned his attention back to his laptop. Elena frowned. "I don't know. I just keep going over and over the numbers."

"Reed." Ben stated as he crossed his arms. "Even you can't compute every little thing."

"Yeah." Elena agreed, mimicking her brother as she crossed her arms as well. "It was a freak accident. It's not your fault. If anything, blame nature."

Reed shook his head, not willing to accept that there wasn't something that he could have done that would have prevented the whole thing from happening. "I should have done more, run more tests-"

Ben stepped closer to Reed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Like Elena said, it was a freak of nature. Last I checked, you don't have a crystal ball. Let it go." Reed frowned as if he was considering Ben and Elena's words. However after a moment, he returned his attention to his laptop causing Elena to sigh and Ben to shake his head.

A thought pops into Ben's head as he notices Sue who was down on a lower level patio. He nudged Elena slightly and nodded towards the blonde woman. Looking at him in confusion, Elena wondered what Ben was trying to tell her.

Ben hid a groan at Elena's cluelessness before he turned his attention back to Reed and said, "You go through something like this, makes you appreciate having the right woman in your life." Elena's mouth opened in a silent "oh", causing Ben to sigh thinking, _now_ she gets it.

Reed gave the man a small smile, saying, "Yeah, you and Debbie are perfect."

Ben let out an annoyed sigh. "Reed, I'm not talking about Debbie."

Reed followed Ben's gaze to Susan, who was currently unaware of the attention being brought to her. "What? Come on. She's got a good thing with Victor."

The redhaired woman shook her head, knowing how dense her friend was to the fact that Sue obviously still had feelings for him. "Victor, the guy who would sell his own mother for the right price." She stated with an eyebrow raised.

Reed looked at his two friends and said, "He's smart, powerful, successful-"

"Well maybe you should date him then." Ben retorted, interupting Reed before the man could go through the long list of qualities Reed had been about to go into.

"Ménage à trois." Elena couldn't help but murmur under her breath at the random thought that had trickled into her head as a result of her brother's retort. She suddenly shuddered. "Okay, bad mental images. Note to self: buy mind bleach."

Ben leveled her with a look. "One, your not even supposed to know what that means." Elena gave him a look that said she was no longer a child and was indeed an adult, despite the fact that the only reason she knew what it meant was because she had taken French for four years in high school. "And two," Ben looked at Reed, "did that cosmic cloud thing loosen a few of those screws in your head?"

Reed looked at Ben with a resigned look on his face. "Guys, he'll give her the life she deserves. She ended up with the right guy. Things worked out for the best." With that said, Reed walked off leaving an exasperated Ben and Elena.

Ben threw his arms up in the air annoyed. "Do I have to do _everything_ myself?"

The redhead arched an eyebrow. "I assume I suddenly became chop liver or something?"

Ben rolled his eyes before beginning to walk away, "Just bring Egghead to the dining hall in an hour." He called back to her before disappearing back into the building.

Frowning, everything soon became clear to Elena when she saw Ben appear on the patio below, talking with Susan. A smirk crossed her lips. _This could be fun_, she thought before going off to find Reed.

* * *

><p>Elena glanced at the time and saw that she had an hour before the time she had promised to meet Reed for dinner in the dining hall. Taking out her cell phone that she had finally gotten back from the security at the facility, Elena hesitated before hitting a button on her phone and putting it to her ear. Seconds later, a furious voice picked up on the other line.<p>

"Took you long enough!" Jess growled. "The stupid people at that fucking hospital wouldn't tell me what had happened or if you were okay!"

"I'm fine, Jess." Elena rolled her eyes, knowing Jess well enough to know that the cause of Jess's anger was because the woman had been worried, not that Jess would ever admit to that fact though. Also, Jess hated being told what she could and couldn't do, hence her anger towards the employees at the facility. "Calm down."

"I _am_ calm." Jess retorted in a slightly calmer tone. "See? This is the face of a person who is perfectly calm."

"Considering I can't see your face…" Elena trailed off, rolling her eyes. She heard Jess let out a long sigh on the other end.

"Are you really okay?" The ravenhaired woman questioned quietly.

"If I wasn't, would I be able to talk to you right now?" Elena questioned, doing her best not to roll her eyes again since she knew her friend had honestly been worried.

"Probably not." Jess remarked. Elena heard a voice in the background but couldn't make out the words being said. "I've got to go. Try not to get killed by a hippolatamus, 'kay?"

Elena blinked confused. "Hippo-what?" _What the hell was a hippolatamus?_

"It's a hippopotamus that has a mustache and fangs, among other things."

An amused look appeared on Elena's face. "I'm concerned about the future sanity of your students."

"Sanity is overrated." Jess replied matter-of-factly. "Now I've really got to go."

"Talk to you later." Elena remarked, still trying to figure out how the hell Jess had come up with the word _hippolatamus._

"Yeah…oh, and I'm glad you didn't die." Jess stated the last part in an upbeat tone, causing Elena to laugh.

"Thanks."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: You guys will find out Elena's power in the next chapter! I originally planned for it to be this chapter, but I vetoed my original idea on how she finds out about her power, so you guys will have to wait until the next chapter! **

**Thanks for reading and remember, reviews are the best things ever so please review! **


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